Modern medicine has produced a number of powerful and beneficial medications, including drugs to combat cystic fibrosis, heart disease, cancer, and AIDS. However, it is usually important that these drugs be taken at prescribed intervals; the drugs can be ineffective or even dangerous if taken at the incorrect time.
What is needed is a simple mnemonic device to remind patients when to take their medications. Such mnemonics are especially important for the elderly patient with failing memory or the AIDS patient who takes a large number of different medications.
Many such mnemonic devices exist in the art, including a number that represent an analogue clock having a manually operable dial or hands. Such devices do not seem to have become widely available and it is believed that the major shortcomings of such prior devices are undue complexity and cost of manufacture.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,568 granted to William Joseph Fish on Jul. 25, 1973 for a, "Self Adhering Medication Time Reminder," describes a six part device mountable on a medication container. Some of these parts are made of plastic and some are made of metal. The rigid construction of the device permits it to engage only flat surfaces such as the top of a pill bottle lid, a location where it might be jarred or damaged when the patient removes the lid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,541 granted to Antony-Euclid C. Villa Real for a, "Mono-Ringed Rotary Medication Reminder," has only two parts and replaces the medication container's existing cap. However, because medication containers have various shapes and sizes, a wide variety of such devices would have to be manufactured, and even then, the device would not be suitable for use on cardboard boxes, blisterpacks, or similar medication packaging.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,614 granted to Bradley M. Glazer on Jan. 3, 1995 for a, "Reminder Device for Pill Containers," describes an invention which has as many as nine parts, making it relatively expensive to manufacture. The complicated device provides information about day and month, which may often be unnecessary. Glazer's device is attached to the container cap with metal nails or tacks. These tacks might pull, might crack the hard plastic cap during installation, or might even destroy the seal of the container, rendering the device problematic for use with liquid medications.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,353 granted on Dec. 21, 1993 to Gerard Besthorne describes a clock-like device which is attached to the side of a medicine bottle by means of a V-notch cut in the back of the device and an elastic strap which encircles and engages the bottle. The device has eight parts and adds greatly to the overall size of the bottle, making it difficult or awkward to place the bottle in one's pocket or purse for use outside of the home.
A simpler device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,587,147 issued to Henry A. Guion and Evelyn Arnold. The device is a clock face with one hand turning on a metal stud or axle. This simpler device has three parts but no obvious means of attachment to a medicine bottle. The device appears to be made of rigid material such as plastic and might not easily adhere to the curvilinear surface of a pill container.
What is needed is a device which is so simple in form and so cheap to produce that it could be economically inserted into a medication container by a pharmaceutical company or dispensed as a courtesy by a pharmacist with a prescription. The device should be so inexpensive that a patient would not hesitate to throw it out with the empty container and the pharmacological leaflet when his medication is finished. Ideally, this product would be made entirely out of sheet material, such as paper, cardboard or plastic, making production of the device more akin to publishing than to manufacturing.
The present invention is directed to such a device.